We had many occasions to score, Domingos Paciência rues Sporting Lisbon's defeat against Vaslui
Sporting Lisbon coach, Domingos Paciência, claims that his side were guilty of not taking their chances to score against Vaslui. The Lions took on the Romanian side away from home and eventually lost the match 1-0, something which the tactician insists is
a result of their failure to convert their opportunities.
Last night’s UEFA Europa League action saw Portuguese giants, Sporting Lisbon, take on Vaslui at Stadionul Municipal. The visitors were thought to be favourites for this one given their superb run of form, however things unfolded quite differently.
Being a dead rubber game for the Lisbon outfit, Domingos Paciência opted to rely on his fringe players for this one and the decision looked to have paid off in the beginning, only for things to deteriorate further in the game.
Right from the start, the home side were put under immense pressure by Sporting; however the score-line remained the same. The match then witnessed a tragedy in the 8th minute, when Fito Rinaudo broke his leg trying to intercept a Vaslui pass.
The defensive midfielder immediately fell to the ground and had to be stretchered off, with Andre http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Santos-c32532 taking to the pitch in his stead.
After the incident, the Sportinguistas were on the end of some good attacks by the Yellow-Greens, who tested the goalkeeper with efforts from Zmeu and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Adaílton-c3508 in the 13th minute.
However the breakthrough in the game was to come later in the 30th minute through the lively Zmeu, who took advantage of some sloppy defending by the Portuguese side. The striker was the first to react to a loose ball and fired home the first
of the night with relative ease.
After half-time, Sporting pressed for an equalizer but they were unable to claw their way back into the match and had to return without any points.
According to Domingos Paciência, the defeat was the result of his team not making the most of their opportunities and defending sloppily against the Romanian outfit.
"Conceding a goal and an error in marking made everything complicated. We knew the difficulties that faced the team, as they were attacking with quick transitions but we had many chances to score,” he said.
The trainer also explained his decision to field a depleted side, saying that he was keeping one eye on the club’s upcoming game with Uniao Leiria and rested some of his important players for that.
"We have a game with UD Leiria on Sunday and now we have a large squad to choose from,” Domingos Paciência was quoted as saying.
Although Sporting Lisbon’s winning streak has finished, the club are still a force to be reckoned with and will try to inflict maximum damage on their opponents in their next Primeira Liga game.
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